


Sleigh Bells

by augusta_brie



Category: World Trigger
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-07
Updated: 2013-12-07
Packaged: 2018-01-03 21:10:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1073080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/augusta_brie/pseuds/augusta_brie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arashiyama and Jin spend Christmas together, Border-style.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleigh Bells

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr request for Arashiyama and Jin Christmas!fic from blackthornhiei. It ended up being gen rather than pairing fic. And not really Christmas!fic. I may have to try this again. I'm still open to Arashiyama fic requests on my Tumblr (http://gusty-stuff.tumblr.com). Although, if anyone would like to make a request here on A03, that would also be awesome!

The battle was over by the time Jin got there, his heavy breaths clouding the air in front of him and adrenalin pumped erratically through his veins. Electricity still sparked in the air, and Jin’s gut curdled as the sweet stench of blood swept in on wisps of wind before being sucked away. He pulled his goggles up onto his head, calculating eyes breaking down the terrain into bite-size pieces that could be analysed in seconds. 

There was no crowd, not out here on the very edge of the safe zone. No cameras flashing, no fresh victims littering the decaying pavement. Instead, there were just old, ghosted remains of abandoned buildings and the occasional heap of rotting Neighbour.

Time to pull things back a bit and think.

Jin sucked the night air deep into his lungs, almost choking on the sharpness of it. It was easy to forget what air that hadn’t been first filtered through fog tasted like, and Jin wasn’t entirely convinced he liked it.

It wasn’t this cautionary tale of air quality that reduced Jin to slow, careful steps as he wove through the graveyard of exposed metal and wind-whipped carcasses. The past crunched beneath his feet with each step, one moment ash beneath his shoes, the next moment bone.

People had lived here, once. Neighbours had fought and killed and died here.

Ash.

Bone.

After so many years, Jin couldn’t tell if it was Neighbour, human, or burnt building crunch-crunch-crunching beneath him.

There had been many moments like this over the years, too many long nights on patrol that came to a sudden end after stumbling across the body of a colleague. There were times when bailing out wasn’t an option, when exhaustion took hold or your body just wouldn’t hold together long enough to survive the trip.

Ash, bone, ash.

Bone.

This was not one of those nights.

Propped against what had probably once been a very nice wall but which was now nothing more than a meter or so of tumbling bricks, sat the man of the moment.

Jin shifted his weight onto his left leg, cocking an eyebrow as he took in the impressive scene of devastation – and this time he was not referring at all to the abandoned suburbs.

Arashiyama waved his fingers sheepishly back.

Ha. Of course Arashiyama could scrape through any encounter with a Neighbour with the appropriate amount of skin and internal organs remaining to still be classified officially as alive. Unfortunately, Arashiyama had not been gifted with the same heroic genes that Jin had. Surviving such an encounter while still coming out with all your dignity intact? Best left to the experts.

Jin dropped down onto his knees in front of Arashiyama with a dramatic sigh, and Arashiyama’s tired smile widened just a touch.

“Never fear, your awesome saviour has finally made his grand entrance.” Jin really was a good friend. Clinical eyes swept over Arashiyama’s matted hair, down bruised cheeks and muddy clothes. Ok, so definitely some collateral damage, but there had to be something more going on here. Arashiyama had the dazed look of someone who wasn’t entirely convinced that Jin was actually there. “I got your message. Well, the first part of it,” Jin amended, fingers reaching out and probing Arashiyama’s shoulders, his collarbone, before skimming down his ribs. Arashiyama winced, his eyes screwing shut briefly in pain and his mouth scrunching into a grimace. Still. Nothing seemed to be broken. It was a good start. 

“I got cut off mid-gaargh,” Arashiyama apologised, helpfully re-enacting the gurgling sound that had shaved a good ten years off Jin’s life. “He got a hit in before I could activate.”

No kidding. Their weapons and armour were ridiculously advanced, but they required activation. Arashiyama had managed to take out the Neighbour even injured, but he’d hardly come through unscathed. 

Examination complete, Jin scooted around so that he was sitting beside Arashiyama. Of all the walls that Jin had leaned against with Arashiyama over the years, this one definitely had the highest stonework to blood ratio. The grouting was pretty good quality, though. Almost comfortable. Jin relaxed back, stretching his legs out with a groan and folding his arms lazily behind his head.

It was quiet here, and dark – much darker than the inner city. A lack of electricity had that kind of effect on an area.

“He, huh? It sounds like one of my cute students is rubbing off on you.” Most people referred to the Neighbours as things, or its. Or, you know. Evil bastards who should go back to the stinking hole they came from. 

“I was thinking of naming him Yuki,” Arashiyama continued thoughtfully, eyes falling on the mush of fur and guts mere meters in front of them. “I’m still undecided. I’m not sure if Yuki really captures the spirit of an eight legged monster with giant eyes and a trunk like an elephant.”

Aah, there we go. And people thought that you had to go to medical school for years on end to be able to make a successful diagnosis. All you had to do was sit back and wait. They should just give Jin his doctorate and congratulate him for his contributions to modern medicine.

“Concussion?”

Too bright eyes and a too bright smile slid over to Jin.

“I hope so!” Arashiyama was always an optimist, even when only partially occupying the same mental plane as everyone else. “It’s either that, or the venom.” That gave them both a moment of pause. Ouch. “Were you doing anything nice?” Arashiyama added weakly, in a poor attempt to change the topic to something less gross than poisonous alien toxins. 

“Patrol-slash-Christmas shopping.” Good Border members patrolled the graveyard shift at this time of the year with grim determination and a secret desire to be somewhere warm. Great Border agents managed to use the lingering Christmas spirit, the flashy brilliance of their uniform, and the desperate need to buy a dozen last minute presents to their advantage.

“Aah.” Arashiyama’s attempt at an all knowing nod ended in a painful grimace. “I had ... I brought a present for you and your team...” Arashiyama waved his hand vaguely over to a semi-collapsed building. “I think. Maybe.” He smiled brilliantly at Jin, green eyes shining with a not-altogether-there light. “Heh.” He sagged back against the wall, tired eyes sliding shut blissfully and his smile melting into something smaller, a touch wry. “I might need to take a nap until the medics come.”

“I’ll let you know when they arrive,” Jin promised lightly, ruffling Arashiyama’s hair. His gaze hardened when his hand came away thick with blood. “I know how important it is for you to always be at your best.”

One green eye cracked back open, and the sudden flash of humour there was like a shot to Jin’s gut. 

“I think I’m allowed Christmas Day off.” The eye slid closed again, but that was ok. That achingly familiar humour didn’t vanish; it just relocated down to Arashiyama’s smile. “In my stead I crown thee, Yuichi Jin, the official face of Border for the day.” Arashiyama’s smile quirked upwards into a grin, even as his eyes remained closed. “Use your new powers wisely, Princess.”

“Oh no, no, no! Not for the prettiest kingdom in the world.” You had to be insane to work for Border in the first place, Jin was testament to that. But there was a very good reason why unhinged geniuses _like_ Jin could prance around so freely – why half the units could be run by people with chips on their shoulders or skeletons cluttering up their closets. It was easy for the rest of them to be flawed and a little bit damaged when all the public ever saw was the blinding perfection of the Arashiyama Unit. Arashiyama, all on his ownsome, managed to convince the public that Border agents were at least sane-on-the-outside. Not that they ever saw Arashiyama like this, blood smeared across his uniform and deep bruises disappearing up into his hair line. 

Hell, few Border agents ever saw Arashiyama like this. 

Arashiyama was just too damn good at what he did. 

There was no sudden gasp for air, no dramatic collapse, which was a pity. Jin was personally a fan of both. Arashiyama simply wilted against Jin, his head drooping against Jin’s shoulder as the last of his energy soundlessly slipped away.

About time.

Arashiyama had always had a nasty habit of clinging onto consciousness for far longer than was technically necessary. Jin had always thought that all obligations to stay upright and aware evaporated the moment some good-looking, ridiculously talented hero showed up to steal the show. It was insulting that Arashiyama had resisted so long.

Jin curled his hand around the nape of Arashiyama’s neck, his fingers lazily twisting up into Arashiyama’s jet black hair. Wet, jet black hair.

His gaze never wavered from the Neighbour.

Definitely not a Yuki.

“Nap time, _Princess._ Your kingdom will be here when you wake up.”


End file.
